Book Group Meeting 4

The final section of Kohn's book looks at the notion of moving beyond rewards. If rewards don't work, what does?


He presents us with a series of ideas to create the motivating conditions, both in the workplace and in the classroom. In the workplace, he suggests:

1. Abolish Incentives: Kohn neatly summarises this by providing an anecdote from his own, self-employed experiences, writing, '[w]hat I attempt to do ... is decouple the task from the compensation'. (p.183)
2. Reevaluate Evaluation: Kohn stresses here the importance of evaluation being used as a way of 'helping employees do better work' (p. 185). He suggests that a programme of evaluation should have four features: it is a two-way conversation; it is a continuous process; it never involves relative ranking or competition; it is not connected with compensation.
3. Create the Conditions for Authentic Motivation: Kohn quotes Princeton University economist, Alan S. Blinder: 'Changing the way workers are treated may boost productivity more than changing the way they are paid' (Paying for Productivity: A Look at the Evidence). Kohn makes four suggestions for things people in managerial positions ought to do: watch, by looking for problems and helping people solve them; listen, by seriously and respectfully attending to the concerns of workers; talk, by providing plenty of informational feedback; think, by reflecting on your managerial style and considering whether you are relying on extrinsic motivators.

In schools, Kohn main argument it that, wherever possible, grades should be removed. He has seven practical suggestions (p. 208-209) for doing so:

1. Limit the number of assignments for which you give a letter or number grade.
2. Limit the number of gradations, for example, move from A/B/C/D/F to check-plus/check/check-minus.
3. Reduce the number of grades to two: A and Incomplete. It neutralizes the effect of grades because it presumes any work that does not merit an A isn't finished yet; learning takes precedence over sorting. 
4. Never grade students while they are still learning something. This removes the opportunity for students to have 'time to be tentative' (p. 208).
5. Never grade for effort. Kohn argues that grades by their nature reduce motivation. In addition, he suggests: 'rewarding or punishing the child's efforts conveniently allows educators to ignore the possibility that the curriculum or learning environment may just have something to do with his or her lack of enthusiasm' (p. 209)
6. Never grade on a curve.
7. Bring students in on the evaluation process. Kohn cites research by Mark Lepper that one's 'perception of competence at an activity will depend [on] ... whether one has to succeed by his or her own standards or by someone else's' (p. 209).

Kohn also links the idea of the 3 Cs as crucial to motivating employees and students alike. These are:

• Collaboration: learn together, work together.
• Content: curriculum, and people's jobs, must be engaging, purposeful and relevant.
• Choice: autonomy and self-determination motivates in the workplace and the classroom.

We will discuss these ideas, and others, in the final book group meeting on Kohn's Punished by Rewards. Some key questions include:

1. To what extent do you agree with the ideas above?
2. What are the pitfalls or difficulties of implementing these ideas?
3. What practices can (and should) you change as a teacher and/or leader?
4. What motivates you?

And, for a different point of view, check out this article about Kohn by Daniel Willingham. Kohn's own response to it can be found at the end of the article.